Saturday, June 21, 2014

Why Splenda Makes You Fat

I'm hoping that title caught your attention! It's not as insanely drastic as "eating Splenda = getting fat." There's a little more to it!

Splenda, and all artificial non-nutritive sweeteners (0 calorie sweeteners not
made from a natural source), are created to be more sweet than natural
sugar. This is the precise reason why it makes you "fat." Consuming
artificially created non-nutritive sweeteners increases your taste buds
tolerance of sweetness. Essentially you get a really big rush of
sweetness whenever you consume these products. Then, when you eat
something that contains natural sugar you don't get that same rush. In
turn you eat MORE because your taste buds are craving that fake-sugar
high that it gets when you choose diet or sugar-free options. Repeated exposure to artificial sweeteners trains your flavor preference and encourages sugar cravings and dependence.

Luckily, sugar dependence is just like salt dependence...YOU have the
power to kick the habit. It takes an average of 30 days to train your
taste buds to enjoy different flavors. I always tell clients who have
high blood pressure or heart disease that they can learn to unlike salt,
and in the same way, you can learn to unlike artificial sweeteners.
Make the effort by clearing out your cupboard of all the fake stuff and
replacing it with natural alternatives. My favorite natural alternative
is Stevia (Stevia in the Raw is my favorite brand). Although this is a
non-nutritive sweetener (meaning no calories), it is made from a natural
source. It doesn't "blow out" your taste buds like the artificial
products do. And, if you're not afraid of the calories, replace your
Splenda habit with a teaspoon of sugar. It will take a few days, and
maybe even up to 30 for your taste buds to realize that the teaspoon of
sugar is sweet...but it will be worth it!

Blend all ingredients together in your blender. If the 1/2 cup Almond
Milk isn't enough to get the strawberries blending, add more, just a
little bit at a time. After you have blended the mixture, put in a
container and freeze for at least 1 hour before scooping!